• TechCrunch, Monday, August 3, 2009 2:02 PM

Google today is launching a major promotional campaign to get the word out about Google Web-based apps and services. Called "Going Google", the promotion features a series of ads touting why 3,000 organizations sign up to use Google every day. It also has a very clear target, says TechCrunch's MG Siegler: Microsoft Office.

Siegler says the "crown jewels" of the campaign will be a series of billboards on four major U.S. highways presenting a new message about Google apps everyday for a month. They will be placed on the 101 in San Francisco, the West Side Hwy in New York, the Ike in Chicago, and the Mass Pike in Boston.

Google claims that over 1.75 million businesses, schools and organizations have signed up so far to use various combinations of its apps, which include Gmail, Google Calendar and Google Docs. Of course, this is a mere "drop in the bucket" compared to the number of companies that use Microsoft Office and its other enterprise solutions. According to Siegler, "Going Google" is a proactive way of telling people why Google's solution is better before Microsoft takes Office online with its 2010 version.

"Going Google" will also attempt to leverage viral marketing. At the bottom of its blog post about the promotion, Google urges its apps customers to tweet their story, providing the hashtag #gonegooogle. You can follow the GoogleAtWork Twitter account to follow the Gone Google stories. There is also a Web site set up to spread the word about "Going Google."

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